Nothing
by Isabella.Uley
Summary: Jace stepped away from me, going back into the shower. So what if we are brother and sister, it's not like we grew up knowing, or fell in love after finding out. No, it was all before. I loved him, and I would be damned if I spent another minute lying to myself, forcing myself to love Simon, when all along it had been him, Jace. And it always would be. Takes place during CoA. R
1. Chapter 1: I Love You

**DISCLAIMER:**

I do not own these characters. They are all owned by Cassandra Clare, the only creative control I have is the plot.

**Note on Timeline:** Takes place during CoA.

**Author's Note:** Some lines are taken out of CoA pages 182-183, with some revision.

The idea for this one-shot came to me as I was reading CoA, it popped into my head and I just had to write it. I stumbled over to my laptop and wrote until I had everything in my head out onto the screen. I really hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review and tell me what you think. If you think I should keep it a one-shot, or maybe turn it into something longer. Thank you. Enjoy.

* * *

**Nothing**

Chapter One: I Love You

**Clary's POV**

"We could keep it a secret," Jace said softly.

"People will find out," I said. "And I don't want to lie to my family, do you?"

"What family?" he said bitterly. "The Lightwood's hate me anyway."

"No, they don't. And I could never tell Luke. And my mother, what if she woke up, what would we _say_ to her? This, what we want, it would be sickening to everyone we care about-"

"_Sickening?_" he dropped his hands from my face as if I'd slapped him. He sounded stunned, hurt. "What we feel – what I feel – it's sickening to you?"

_Of course not,_ I wanted to say. But instead, "Maybe," I said softly to him, looking down. "I don't know." I wanted to step up to him, to wrap my arms around him. I stayed still.

"Then you should have said that to begin with," he had gone stiff, rigid.

"Jace–" I began.

He looked at me like nothing mattered anymore; he was solid, like a statue, in expression and body. "I'm sorry I said anything, then," he was formal again; I could feel my heart sinking heavily in my chest. It was difficult to breathe. "I won't be kissing you again. You can count on that."

He moved away from me, to his dresser where he pulled a towel off the top of it. He headed back towards the bathroom. I wanted to go to him, why wouldn't I just _go_ to him? "But, Jace–" I choked. "What are you doing?"

"Finishing my shower," he told me in a stiff, lazy tone. "And if you've made me run through all the hot water, I'll be very annoyed," he stepped away from me, into the bathroom and kicked the door shut.

I stumbled over to his bed, falling onto it backwards. I stared up at the ceiling, unblinking, forcing the tears that fought to fall back. I rolled over, a single tear falling from my eye as I realized the lump I had landed on was his crumpled blue shirt; it smelled like him: soap and smoke and coppery blood. I pulled it into my chest and inhaled a deep breath of his scent, allowing it to fill me and surround me.

I could hear the shower running through his bathroom door. Why had I said that, sickening? What had I been thinking? I certainly didn't think it, if anything, wrong should have been what I said, not right, even. But sickening? What was _sickening _was the word _sickening_ leaving my mouth in context to what Jace and I felt – feel – for each other. Sickening was to fall in love with your cat or dog, now _that_ was sickening. _That_ was wrong. _That_ was not right. But to fall completely and hopelessly in love with another human being? There was nothing sickening or wrong or not right about that, and I damn well knew it.

I pushed myself to sit, gently setting his shirt onto the bed, and forced myself to my feet. I loved Jace, I loved my brother, and I would – no, I _will not fight it_.

I walked over to his bathroom door and pushed it slowly open, being sure not to make a noise; I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. The room was filled with hot steam, and it only made my already-wet clothes that much more itchy against my skin. I fought the urge to peel my clothes off or tear at my skin with my nails, and instead made my way over to his black and grey patterned shower curtain. I hesitated for only a second, inhaling a deep breath through my nose, and slowly out my mouth.

I lifted my hand to the curtain and slowly pulled it slightly ajar. His back was facing me; his hands scrubbing at his face as the stream of the shower rained down over his head and shoulders. I didn't bother to even kick off my shoes as I stepped into the shower behind him, pulling closed the curtain behind me. I breathed slowly and evenly, my eyes closed.

When I opened them, he was facing me. Looking at me, his face stunned. I opened my mouth to speak, and then closed it, not knowing exactly what to say.

He seemed just as speechless as I felt. "I–" I began slowly, looking over at him, and him looking back at me, unblinking. He seemed stiff like he had before, but in a different way. He looked like he wanted to move, to talk, but he looked like it was taking all of his strength to hold himself back. "When you love someone, and someone loves you back, it doesn't just go away," I began clumsily. "It's not something you should fight, or something you should push away, for that matter. It isn't something to be ashamed of, and I…" I stammered, looking down. "I love you, Jace. I fell in love with you before I knew you were my brother, and even after I found out that you were… I don't care," I said, looking back up to him. "We can keep it a secret, Jace," I told him, taking a step towards him. "People won't find out – and if lying to others is the only way to _not_ lie to myself, then fine, I'll lie to others. But I will be damned if I spend one more second, one more minute, thinking I can keep myself away from you."

He took a step towards me, placing his hand along my jaw. He looked down at me with such tenderness, such love and adoration I felt my breath catch. "I love you, Jace," I told him again, softly. "I love you."

He took another step towards me so our bodies were pressed up together, and I took another step closer towards him still, getting as close to him as I possibly could. Without saying anything, he leaned his lips down and pressed them against mine. Softly, at first, pulling away just to look down at me, to make sure I was really there. I wanted to tell him that I was, to reassure him that this was really happening and he hadn't just fallen and hit his head and knocked himself out, but his lips were against mine again before I could get a word out. I slid my hands up his slick chest and wrapped them around the back of his neck, pulling him down to me.

I opened my mouth for him, and his tongue slid into my mouth as mine slid into his. A moan left me, filling into his mouth as he walked forward, forcing me backwards and my back to press up against the wall of the shower, as our kiss deepened further. My fingers were tangled up in his hair as he slid his hand down my side, lifting at my shirt and breaking our kiss to pull it up and over my head. He dropped it onto the shower floor, and looked down at me, taking in the sight of me without a shirt before reaching his hand behind me and unhooking my bra. That too, was pulled from me and dispatched onto the shower floor. "You know," he began slowly. "It is hardly customary to take a shower with your clothes still on," and he finished removing the rest of my clothes, including my shoes and socks, and then stood back up, looking down at me and taking in a good, long time to just look my naked form up and down.

He pressed his naked body against mine, and I held back a moan at the feeling of it. My breathing was rigid and came in short bursts. He kissed me again, holding my face between his palms. "Never," he told me, pulling his lips away and looking at me seriously. "Never, leave me again, Clary," his face was serious, yet completely filled with tenderness. "Understand?"

I nodded, yearning for his lips again. I raked my fingers through his hair, and let out a breathy, "Yes," before reaching up to kiss him.

"I love you, Clarissa," he told me, breaking our kiss for a brief second before bringing his lips back to mine. "I will love you forever."

"Nothing could possibly keep me from you," I told him, looking up at him. "Never again," I ran my hand up and cupped it over his.

"Good," and he kissed me again.


	2. Chapter 2: Soul and Heart

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own these characters. They are all owned by Cassandra Clare, the only creative control I have is the plot.

**Author's Note:** This chapter contains mild sexual content. Read with caution.

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**Nothing**

Chapter Two: Soul and Heart

**Clary's POV**

"You lied," I said with my feet spread over Jace's lap, a book curled up in front of both of our faces as we sat on the couch in the library; Jace with his back propped up against the couch, and I laying down with a pillow beneath my head.

"I never lie," he said, pulling his eyes away from his book to look over at me, his hand resting along my feet as he threw his head back against the head of the couch.

"Liar," I said. He closed his book and set it onto the side table next to the couch and took his hand away from my foot, crossing his arms over his chest. "You lied less than two hours ago."

He narrowed his eyes at me as the library door burst open, and we both turned our attention towards it. It was Isabelle, all showered and dressed up as if she were ready to go out: weapons and runes and all. "Hey you two, feel like kicking some demon butt?"

"I thought things were quiet lately," Jace put in, unconsciously resting his hand back over my toes and looking over at her.

"Oh they are," she nodded. "Just figured we could go out and try to find something anyways. Alec is restless, and I'm bored."

"Well we," he indicated towards me, than back at himself. "Are not," he smiled. "Please, enjoy. Call if you find anything."

"Seriously?" she asked him, completely stunned. "Jace, what if I do find something and–"

"Isabelle," he cut her off. "If you do find something then I have complete faith that you will be able to handle yourself. Besides, isn't Alec going with you?"

"Well, yes, he is restless," she shrugged.

"There you have it, you are not alone. Clary is tired from all the business with the Faerie Queen, and I want to stay here to make sure my sister is all right," he looked over at me. "She may be used to demons by now, but that was her first encounter with the fair folk, and I want to make sure she is all right. What if she were to pass out from the after effects of the climate down there? There would be no one here to care for her, and Max is hardly capable to care for a small dog, much less another human being."

"Not like she's much bigger than he is," she grumbled, and I glared over at her. "Fine," she sighed. "Suit yourself, we'll contact you if we run into anything we can't handle," she waved her hand absently, turning towards the library doors.

"See you tomorrow," Jace said, not trying to make his voice any louder than a casual tone. She shut the doors behind her, and we heard as she called her brother's name, telling him it was just the two of them, and that they could take off.

"Finally," Jace said with a mischievous grin, as he gently slid my feet from his lap, and came towards me in a crawl, laying himself on top of me, and holding himself above me with his elbows. He leaned down and kissed me once. "We are alone."

"Wait," I whispered, not really trying to stop him as he trailed his lips along my neck. "What if someone comes back? Maryse… Max?" I asked as he continued kissing along my neck, my hands wrapped around the back of his head and shoulders.

"She won't," he told me softly. "I heard Isabelle on the phone with her mother earlier, you had fallen asleep briefly after our shower," he told me, smiling down at me. "You're so gorgeous when you sleep."

I bit my lip, looking back up at him. "Max, what if he–"

"He won't," he whispered. "He never wakes up at night after he has fallen asleep. We're safe."

Trailing my eyes away from his, I looked down to his lips: full and soft and warm. He leaned down, just brushing them over mine, before pulling his lips back. "Wait," he said, and I looked up at him curiously. "Earlier, you told me that I lied."

"You did lie," I nodded. "Up in your bedroom." It was his turn to look confused. "Before I came to you… you said you'd never kiss me again. _You lied_."

"Ah," he mused. "That. _That_ does not count as a lie," he told me. "_You_ made me go back on my word. And here I thought, brothers and sisters were supposed to look out for each other, keep each other straight and true," he sighed. "So much for idealism."

"Oh I'm looking all right."

He smiled, bringing his lips down to mine. It was a gentle kiss, a peck. He brought his lips down to mine again, and I quickly parted my lips, biting down softly at his bottom lip and sucking at it. He grazed his tongue over my upper lip before pushing it into my mouth. We were quickly lost in each other; my hands lost in the mess of his hair and his arms wrapped protectively around me. I felt a sudden change in gravity, and opened my eyes to find we were now on the floor, in front of the couch, with me on top of him. We had fallen.

I pulled my lips away from his, suddenly fearful. "Oh my gosh!" I huffed. "Are you all right, did I hurt you?"

"No," he mumbled, keeping his eyes closed and lifting his head back to mine to kiss me. He wrapped his hands around the back of my head and brought it down to his. "Just keep kissing me."

"But if I hurt you–" I said into his mouth.

"Trust me," he said quickly. "I have lifted paperweights that weigh more than you." I slapped my hand against his side, and he chuckled against my lips. "Just being honest." I wanted to be mad at him, but I was like a moth to a flame with him: I couldn't stay away; much less keep my lips from his.

He sat up, my legs falling on either side of his hips to straddle him. I kept my fingers laced together behind his neck to keep myself from falling back, even with his arms wrapped around my waist; it made me stay closer to him. He smiled at me, and I smiled back as he took a hand and brushed a loose strand of hair from my eyes that had fallen, before wrapping his arm back around me. "How I don't want to ruin this moment…" he said softly, breathing evenly.

"I don't think you possible could," I told him.

"It's just," he began. "You were so set with your decision to stay away from; from us. I thought I had lost you forever, I thought you were decided to keep me at arms length as no more than your brother. And then… in the shower…"

"Jace," I told him, taking a handful of his hair into my hand and leaning my forehead against his. "Complicated things," I said, pulling my head from his. "Are hardly ever as complicated as people make them out to be.

"I knew that you were in love with me, and I in love with you. We had fallen in love before either of us knew that we were siblings… And love isn't complicated: you either love someone or you don't. Love isn't the kind of thing that you can tell yourself it isn't there, or it's wrong, and it will just go away. Love, it isn't a body or an eye color of a hair color or an accent or a person's height or financial standing. If you fall in love with someone thinking they are a multimillionaire, and later find out they are really penniless, the love that you have for them isn't just going to go away. No, love is deeper than that, it's in here," I said, taking my hand and placing it over his heart, and then the side of his head. "And here. It isn't something physical or something you can force to build or force away. It is in the soul… So, who cares if our bodies came from the same source, who cares if you are my brother, I am your sister… if we have the same parent's.

"I love you, Jace, and nothing is going to force me to stop. Nothing is going to ever convince me that it is wrong, because, nothing that feels this _good_, that feels this _right_," I said, pulling myself tighter against him, and hugging him tighter, leaning my head against his. "Can be wrong."

He ran his hand up my back and laced his fingers into my hair. "So," he went on before kissing me. "Calling you my sister, calling me your brother, it doesn't bother you, at all?" he asked, looking over at me, bringing his lips back to mine and kissing me deeply, pushing his tongue into my mouth and forcing a moan from my lips. I gripped tightly onto his hair, holding onto it like it were a life line, as he pulled himself up to his knees and set me back onto the couch. As much to my dismay, he pulled his lips away from mine, and kissed tenderly along my neck, nibbling on my ear and running his tongue along my sensitive skin. "It doesn't bother you," he breathed heavily, whispering seductively. "To know that I am your brother, holding you so intimately, kissing you with such want, such desire and need… such undying love for you…?" He wondered, kissing along my collarbone.

"No," I breathed, pulling him closer as he pushed me along the couch, laying himself on top of me. He ran his hand under my shirt and caressed my bare skin. "Jace," I panted as he raised his hand further up my stomach. "Jace…" his thumb grazed my breast, sliding it under the base of my bra.

"I need you," he told me, bringing his lips back to mine. "Clary, _Clarissa_," he whispered my voice with such tenderness, such intimacy; it sent my heart beating into overdrive.

* * *

He set me gently onto his bed, and I watched as he walked back over to his door, taking his stele and carving a locking rune into the wood. "I know no one is here to bother us," he said, setting his stele onto his dresser and coming back to me. "But we can never be too careful," I smiled up at him and ran my hand over his head as he crawled over to me, looming over me and looking down at me. He kissed me before pulling himself back up, and looked down at me with a smile as he reached down and pulled his shirt off, tossing it onto the floor beside the bed. "Where were we?" he asked softly, taking the side of my face into his hand and leaning down to kiss me.

Taking both hands, he took the base of my shirt into his hands and pulled it up and over my head. He leaned his body down to mine and pulled me up against him, using his fingers to unlatch my bra. He pulled it off slowly, sliding it smoothing over my shoulders while kissing my neck, and tossed it onto the floor, alongside his shirt. We were topless from the waist up. "You are so beautiful, Clary," he told me, lightly cupping my breast into his hand. He trailed his lips down my chest, taking my nipple into his mouth and sucking on it gently.

* * *

"I love you," he told me with a blissful, content smile on his lips, as he pulled a clean maroon shirt over his head and pulled his arms through the sleeves. He zipped up his black jeans and buttoned them up, pulling his shirt over them. He walked over to me, where I was struggling to shake my leg into the too-long jeans I was borrowing from Isabelle. He chuckled softly and planted a kiss on my nose. He took the sleeves of the shirt I was borrowing from him, and began rolling them up to my elbows. He then dropped down onto one knee and began rolling the excess material from the jeans to my ankles. I smiled while watching him with my hand propped against his shoulder to keep my balance.

He stood back up, and chuckled while running his hand down to zip up my jeans. "Oh," I said softly. "In my defense the big clothes had me too preoccupied to remember such a trivial thing as my fly."

"It's all right," he told me while kissing my forehead. "I like helping dress the woman I love after making love," he smiled. "Well, not that I would know. But I did enjoy it."

"You mean, you never…?" I trailed, looking up at him.

"That was my first time," he told me, taking my chin into his hand and kissing me. "Before you… there was just never anyone who I could trust with such a huge part of me; to give myself to someone completely. But now," he said, looking down at me and wrapping me into his arms. "I have you."

I smiled, nuzzling my face into his chest. "It was my first time, too," I told him.

"I know," I looked up at him, but before I had a chance to demand what he meant by that, my ears were filled with a sound that was too loud to be any cell phone, or church bells that I had ever heard before.

I wanted to ask him what it was, but before I could he had kissed the top of my head, given me one last squeeze and told me. "It's the front door."

**To be continued…**


	3. Chapter 3: Simon

**Author's Note: **I have decided to take full advantage of Fanfiction, and the freedom of plot it brings.

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**Nothing**

Chapter Three: Simon

**Jace's POV**

As we stepped out of the elevator I took Clary's hand into mine. "Wait," I said, holding her back from taking another step. "This is the last time I can do this before we see who it is," and I stepped towards her, taking her face into my hands and kissing her deeply; her fingers getting lost in my hair as our tongues danced together. I pulled her against me, hugging her tightly.

As she dropped down from her toes she smiled up at me. "I love you, Clarissa," I told her, running my hand over her head one last time.

"I love you, Jace," she smiled back. I grabbed her hand and held it securely in mine as we made our way towards the door; the bell ringing incessantly. "It's past three in the morning," she said as we reached the door. "Anyone can come in who isn't a Downworlder… Do you think it's… do you think it's…" she couldn't bring herself to say his name.

As I pulled open the door, Clary couldn't bring herself to let go of my hand; squeezing it tightly. Besides, it wasn't an abnormal thing for siblings to hold hands, and after all, we only did just find each other…

At first, there was no one there. I heard Clary gulp beside me; my vision was trained, acute, and sensitive. Yet I saw no one there; smelled nothing. Clarissa pulled herself closer to me, taking my arm with her hand that did not hold mine. I thought it might be a prank, some mundanes trying to break into 'the old rundown building'. "Clarissa," I said, now weary. "Get behind me-"

I was cut off as he came flying through the doorway, screaming. His aim had been set so he would knock Clary and I apart. I simply stepped to the side, but it was too late for Clary. She hadn't been brought up a Shadowhunter, and therefore was still prone to mundane klutziness and movements. I was like a lion, fierce and ready, a trained hunter since birth, making no mistakes in sight, sound, smell, or any other sense. Fully capable to protect both myself and the ones I cared about. Clary, on the other hand, my darling Clarissa, she was more like a fawn: beautiful, impossible not to look at or notice, yet unable to fend for herself, or stand on her own feet. She lay on her side, gasping for air; the wind knocked out of her.

I went to her, placing my hand on the side of her face, and she looked up at me with wide, pain-filled eyes. "Clary, breathe," I told her gently. "Look at me, focus on my voice. You can breathe, Clary. Calm, relax. There… there…" I said as she squeezed her hand around mine, her breathing becoming easy and steady again. My hand was still around her head, protective. I wanted to pull her into my arms, to make sure she hadn't gotten any injuries when knocked to the ground. I wanted to cover her in kisses and hold her. It took all my strength not to; my muscles contracting.

"Dammit!" came his angry, annoyed, and downright pissed-off voice. "Would you just stop?"

"Simon," I said. "How pleasant of you to have dropped by, you must do so more often," I forced a quick smile up at him, and then focused myself back to Clary. "Clary, are you all right?" our fingers were laced together, hidden amongst her body and mine from Simon. I could see in her eyes how desperately she wanted to crawl into my arms and nuzzle herself there. This whole brother-sister thing, if it were a nuisance before, was a complete and utter demon all in itself now. Neither of us gave a damn about it, so why would everybody else react as if we had committed the greatest sin for being in love?

_Probably because in the Bible one of the biggest sin's_ is_ incest. Whatever._

"Yeah," she said lightly, looking up at me as if she were about to cry. "I'm fine."

"Just, just get away from her!" Simon said, shoving at my shoulder as he crouched down beside Clary at her head. Normally I would have had a good laugh as he tried to get me to move even an inch with his mundane strength, but I gave it to him. This once. I rolled on my ankles a few feet away, swiftly pulling my hand from Clary's before he had a chance to see it. "Are you all right?" he asked her, helping her to sit.

"Did I not just ask her that?" I said. "And did she not just answer?"

"Just… _shut – up_," his shoulders were tense as he spoke to me, keeping his focus on Clary. "Clary, honey, are you all right? Did I hurt you? I _was_ aiming for _him_."

"Honey?" she asked in response, looking taken aback. It took all my strength, once again, to not rip him away from her. Then I smiled to myself, thinking of what his reaction would be if I were to mention the fact his so-called girlfriend and me had just made love in my bedroom, _after_ taking a shower together, _after _she confessed her undying love for me.

"You're my girlfriend, aren't you?" he asked her as he helped her to her feet.

"_No," _I wanted to answer. "_She's mine, always has been, always will be. Now please, leave."_ I was sounding possessive to my own self, but if I were being honest, I _was _possessive of her. She was the only good thing that had ever happened to me, and I never wanted to be away from her; from the feeling she gave me; the love I felt when I was around her… from the moment I first saw her at Pandemonium, from the moment our eyes met, I knew I was hers, and she was mine. In my heart, mind and soul, I knew it.

"You've never called me anything more than Clary before," she said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "I just didn't expect it."

"So then I'll cross that one off the list for pet-nicknames for each other," he said as he ran his hand over her forehead, brushing hair from her face. "Really though, Clary, are you all right? Did I hurt you, when I…"

"When you body-slammed me?" she finished for him. He shrugged, looking guilty. And good: as well he should. "No, apart from knocking the wind out of me, I'm fine."

"Good," his entire demeanor had changed with her answer. He took her hands into his, running his thumbs over the tops of hers. "I came here to talk to you."

"To talk to me?" she asked him, looking thoroughly surprised, as she darted her eyes back and forth between him and the now closed door. "You made a hell of an entrance for just wanting to talk."

"I… I know," he slumped his shoulders, dropping his head and closing his eyes for a brief moment. "I'm sorry."

"And before that?" she went on. I sat silently with my back against the wall, my arm resting on my knee. "You just _took off_. I tried calling you, texting you. And then you just _show up_, no, no, fly like superman through the front door of the Institute after three in the morning, and say _now_ you want to talk?"

He lit up. "Superman?"

"You've got the hair, the glasses, and that whole flying through the door thing… Stop beaming, it's beside the point."

"Sorry," he was still smiling, practically bouncing.

"Simon!" she shouted, grabbing his attention back. "You're here, so, even as late as it is… Do you want to go into the library to talk, or…?"

"Is your bedroom an option?" he asked. She gave him a look. "What? I wanna cuddle…" he sounded twelve.

"Cuddle?" she asked. "After completely ditching me, ignoring me, avoiding me, body-slamming me… You wanna cuddle?"

"Yeah," he said stupidly.

"Simon," she said, sounding thoroughly annoyed. "Let's go to the library."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense, but first," he said, dropping her hands. "You've got to let me apologize," he took her face between his hands and brought his lips down to hers.

That was the icing on the cake. I shot up from my spot on the floor, knocking Simon flat on his face. "_Don't _do that," I said sternly as I stood before Clary, her shoulders in my hands.

"Jace," she said nervously, looking up at me, completely torn. "We promised-"

"I don't care," I told her softly, bending down to her height. "He's been your friend your whole life, you can't hide it from him, not this, not him thinking you're still together. And I can't stand to watch him kiss you. Clarissa, love, he'll understand. Make him understand." I told her, and she nodded, running her hands over my shoulders and into my hair.

"Jace," she said, looking between my eyes and lips. "Alec, Isabelle, Max-"

"They're different," I told her. "They really _wouldn't _understand; Shadowhunters are different, much more stubborn and fixed in their ways than mundanes. But I know you, you can make him, a mundane, understand."

She nodded her head vigorously, looking up at me, pulled at my hair and tugging at the fabric over my shoulder. "Jace," she said, sounding as if she were about to implode if I didn't kiss her. I knew this, because I felt the same way.

Simon was staring up at us, perched up on his elbows. "Clary," he said imploringly while pulling himself up. "Clary, I love you. I _love _you. I love you, please…"

We both looked over at him, practically clawing at each other. "Simon, I'm sorry…" she told him, placing her eyes back to me. I smiled at her. "I know you love me, but there are plenty of other girls out there…" she was unable to say anymore as she stretched up to her tiptoes, pulling me down and slamming her lips against mine. At the touch of her lips, all of my muscles relaxed, and I found myself leaning into her – having pressed her up against the wall without even realizing it, and holding her up so her feet were dangling in the air; an arm wrapped protectively around her waist to prevent her falling. She was as light as a feather.

Slowly, reluctantly, I set her back down to her feet, pulling my lips away from hers. I kept my eyes shut, my forehead pressed to hers. For a moment, I had completely forgotten of Simon's presence… until the noises started.

I pulled my forehead away from hers, and we both looked over at him. "Well," I said finally. "You've got talking to do. I'll be in my room." I took her hand into mine and kissed it gently, running my thumb over her fingers before letting go. I turned and headed towards the elevator, pulling open the gate and heading up.

* * *

They were in the library now, and I sat at the head of my bed with my back against the wall. I knew it was a rash decision to kiss her like that, in front of him, but I trusted Clary, and believed in her. Simon was a rather simple being, and I didn't doubt it wouldn't take her too long to convince him of the pureness of what the two of us shared. They had been though a lot, as she had told me, and there was very little she couldn't convince him.

I knew it was wrong, but I held the listening rune stone in my hand – its mate, in Clary's pocket – I had planted it there earlier, and I listened to the two of them as they sat silently in the library. It had been five and a half minutes, and still, nothing.

"I think I might throw up," Simon finally broke the ice. "I might throw up. I want to throw up, is that normal?"

"What?" she asked him. "Wanting to throw up after seeing two people kiss? No it's not normal," she told him. "Unless you're like a three-year-old, which I don't think you are."

"But, Clary," he complained. "Clary, he's your brother! You brother for God sake! Your family, your blood… It's not right; Clary, and you know it. It is wrong and gross and disgusting and… ugh I think I am going to be sick." He truly sounded like he would be.

"He's not," her voice was soft, hurt. "Simon, he isn't. Blood doesn't mean anything; it's nothing in the grand scheme of things. Listen to me, Simon, please," she begged him. "Love: it isn't a body, it isn't just an attraction, or, no, it is… It's an attraction of soul, Simon. Love is a manifest, not a body. It doesn't matter what race or age or gender you are, a person doesn't pick love, it picks us… And I fell in love with Jace long before finding out he was my brother. It's not the kind of thing I can fight or ignore, Simon, and neither can he."

"Are we seriously having a conversation about you being in love with your brother?" he asked. "Firstly, ew, and secondly, wasn't it _me _who came over here to talk to _you_? Not the other way around?"

"Things change," she said. "Simon, would you please just listen to me for one second without your ideals getting in the way?" there was a pause. "I love Jace, Simon. I _love _him – with all my heart and soul and mind, I love him with all of me, I love him more than I ever thought possible to love someone else. The fact that he is my brother, it doesn't even cross my mind… The kind of love I have for him – that _we_ have – it's unconditional. Sure, he _is _my brother, and I _am _his sister. But I love him so much… Simon, I would die without him. He is my sun and stars, the air that I breathe, the warmth from the fire and light at the end of the tunnel… Nothing, no force on earth, in heaven or hell, would ever take that kind of love away from me.

"When I found him, when I realized that I loved him… it was like… it was like waking up. Like, before him I wasn't really living, there was no before before him, and there won't be an after, because I will always love him." I wasn't one to cry, much less shed a tear for anything… But my sister, the woman I loved so dearly, hearing her confess her love for me in such a deep and _romantic_ way to someone other than me, I had tears running down my cheeks. Tears of happiness; tears of joy. I knew she loved me, but to hear how much – to hear her love me as much as I did her… it was heaven on earth. Indescribable happiness flowed through my veins, giving me a kind of high.

"Wow," Simon said after a few silent minutes. "Clary… You're _glowing_. Clary, I have known you my entire life, well, basically… And I have never seen you so happy. So seriously in love…

"As hard for it is for me to understand all this… I do love you, Clary, but even if _I _am not the one you love back… I will try to be supportive of you two. I won't tell anyone, I promise, and I will try to do what you asked: I will try to see you two as people, instead of just siblings. My lips are sealed, and I will try my best to be happy for you, which, as much as I can't believe I am about to say this… I don't think will be that hard, seeing how happy you look."

"Simon," she signed: I could just imagine how she looked now – smiling, her hands folded over each other in her lap, her shoulders drawn in together, her fiery hair fluffed out. The image made me smile even more. "You have no idea how much that means to me. That you can be happy for me, and for Jace and-"

"Wow now," he said, probably raising his finger towards her. "Let's calm down a minute here. I said _supportive _for you and Jace. I said _happy _for _you_.

"Now, can we please talk about the reason why I came over here in the first place?"

"Of course, Simon," she said. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Actually… I kind of need both of you – you and Jace – here for this one…"

I was on my feet and heading towards the library.

* * *

"I still don't understand how you got here so fast," Simon said. I sat on the couch beside Clary, our fingers entwined, and her leg over mine. "And how you even knew to come in the first place."

"There are a lot of things about my world you don't understand," I said. "Now, what is it you needed me for, to talk, was it?"

"How did you… You know what? I'm not even going to ask," his eye kept going to Clary's and my hand, her leg over mine. I could tell he was putting in great effort to try for us. He folded his hands together, looking away. "Yes, to talk."

"Aright, we're all ears," I said, lifting my arm and setting it over Clary's shoulders. She snuggled further against me. Now that he knew, I was going to do what felt natural, besides, it would help him comes to terms sooner.

"Yeah Simon, what is it?" Clary said.

"It's just… Hard to say."

"Seriously?" she asked him. "After that _whole_ thing. After everything I _just_ told you, you can't find a way to-"

"I think I'm becoming a vampire."

**To be continued…**


End file.
